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Letter to the editor: It’s time for Minnesota to take next step

As a pastor for the past 25 years at Union Congregation Church United Church of Christ in Hackensack, I am proud to call myself a Minnesotan.

This past fall I was especially pleased to know that the people of Minnesota clearly affirmed the freedom for all persons in Minnesota to marry.

The voters of Minnesota have taken the first step in the freedom for everyone to marry. Now is the time to take the next step to secure the freedom for same-gendered couples to marry the one whom they love and cherish. It is time for us to set aside the last barrier for the freedom for everyone to marry by encouraging our legislators to act.

In Hackensack, same-gendered couples pay taxes, they vote, they run businesses. They work hard and contribute to the same system as everyone else. They should be treated fairly under the law, including the freedom to marry the person they love. When two people fall in love and decide to start a family and spend their lives together, marriage is the next step. There is nothing that compares or is as meaningful as marriage.

I look forward to the day when I can stand before a same-gendered couple and officiate at their wedding. Then I will be living out what I say every Sunday at Union, “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”